Guitarist / Educator / Composer

Gigs

Please join us for a special CD Release Party for my latest recording, Glitter! We’re playing two sets, one at 8 p.m. and one at 10 p.m. There will be CDs and t-shirts for sale, and some glitter to be had too! It’s also my birthday the next day so we’ll be celebrating a day early.

This concert will feature myself on guitar, Lauren Sevian on baritone saxophone, Justin Carroll on organ, and Jeff Davis on drums. Reservations are highly recommended as this is an intimate space as well as a popular jazz club in New York City.

Bella Via Restaurant is my home away from home: Sal Polito, the owner of this fine establishment, is basically my brother from another mother. They serve wonderful pizza and Italian dishes, and recently added a brunch menu and it’s as delicious as it is unique: French Toast baked in the pizza oven, Breakfast Pizza with pancetta, eggs, Brussel sprouts and cheese, eggs in purgatory – stuff like that. Super yummy.

This Sunday I’m really looking forward to playing with my good friend Mike Baggetta. He’s a killer guitarist and a wonderful guy, and it’s going to be a lot of guitar and a lot of coffee to be sure. So do come by and enjoy a delicious brunch and the music – we’d love to play music for you!

Bella Via Restaurant is my home away from home: Sal Polito, the owner of this fine establishment, is basically my brother from another mother. They serve wonderful pizza and Italian dishes, and recently added a brunch menu and it’s as delicious as it is unique: French Toast baked in the pizza oven, Breakfast Pizza with pancetta, eggs, Brussel sprouts and cheese, Polenta and Eggs – stuff like that. Super yummy. And I play solo jazz guitar several times a month, schedule permitting. So come by and have a great meal and say hello!

I’m thrilled to be playing in my home state of Connecticut on a Sunday afternoon at a library. It’s free to the public and promises to be a lot of fun. So if you’re one of those people I went to high school with who keeps saying you’re going to come hear me play someday, or if you’re someone who lives in the area who likes Sunday afternoon jazz concerts, I’ll see you there. Information below! Joining me will be high school chum Noah Baerman on piano and Henry Lugo on bass.

The 14th Annual Baby Grand Jazz Series, sponsored by The Charles H. Kaman Charitable Foundation, opens Janunary 8 and runs through April 30. The free, hour-long concerts are run Sundays, 3 pm, in the Center for Contemporary culture on the main floor of the Downtown Library at 500 Main St. The concerts are presented in partnership with the Hartford Jazz Society and WWUH 91.3 FM.

The 16-session series will run on Sundays, 3 to 4 pm, in the Center for Contemporary Culture in the Downtown Library, 500 Main St. (No concert on Easter Sunday, April 16.)

The series is moving from the Atrium to the Center for Contemporary Culture on the main floor of Hartford Public Library, 500 Main St.

The CCC has a seating capacity of 240. When the auditorium is full the doors will close. The CCC will open at 1 pm. HPL will livestream the concerts and post them for later viewing on its website, www.hplct.org.

Gantry Plaza State Park
Center Blvd. at 48 Drive, Long Island City NYlicconcerts.com

Kiss the Leslie had a great time at last year’s LIC Concerts, and this year we’ll be joined by my good friend and killer bari sax player Lauren Sevian! We’ll play outdoors with the Manhattan Skyline as our backdrop and thanks to the generous neighborhood sponsors, the concert is FREE! Bring the kids for some serious grooving with Lauren, Brian, George and me.

It’s the return of my quartet DEATHBLOW, a name that has absolutely nothing to do with the band. We’ll be playing tunes from my “Motorsport DNA” project, my ongoing interpretation of all things Formula 1 racing in a jazz context.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6QJOG CLINIC/JAM SESSION
Join Queens Jazz OverGround member Amanda Monaco as she leads a clinic about the great pianist and composer Fats Waller. Following the clinic is a jam session that is free for participating musicians and $10 for audience members.

We are thrilled to be back at Bar Next Door for our Holiday Concert! We’ll be performing two sets of holiday classics, sprinkled with some jazz chestnuts. And as is always the tradition at these types of concerts, I will sing “Santa Baby”. Do join us for what promises to be a delightful evening of music in an intimate setting.

BAR NEXT DOOR at LA LANTERNA
129 MacDougal Street
New York NY 10012
(212) 529-5945 for reservations (recommended)Web Site

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4 – QJOG JAM SESSION AT FLUSHING TOWN HALL

6-7 p.m. – I will lead a clinic about the great vibraphonist Milt Jackson, former Queens Resident

Celebrating the ethnic diversity of what Walt Whitman, our national poet (and former Brooklyn resident), called our Democratic Vista, noted spoken word entertainer Kirpal Gordon and the Speak-Spake-Spoke Band featuring saxophonist Frank Perowsky match Whitman’s greatest works—“Song of Myself,” “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d,” “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry,” “Song of the Open Road,” “Mannahatta,”—to classic jazz tunes by Duke Ellington, Rogers and Hart, Mongo Santamaria, Paul Desmond and Rahsaan Roland Kirk, among others. Wed to these timeless and familiar song forms, Whitman’s King James rhythms expand the meaning and urgency of his message that the men and women of the United States are our greatest poem.

This is a project/ensemble that’s very, very dear to my heart. The music of Joe Phillips is emotional, powerful and really fun. Like nothing you’ve ever heard before, and you’ll be very, very glad you did. So I’ll see you there!

We are thrilled to be back at Bar Next Door for two sets of Albert Mangelsdorff, Attila Zoller, and Jimmy Giuffre goodness. Do join us for what promises to be a beautiful evening of music in an intimate setting.

BAR NEXT DOOR at LA LANTERNA
129 MacDougal Street
New York NY 10012
(212) 529-5945 for reservations (recommended)Web Site

It’s LIC Arts Open, and the fabulous photographer Jesse Winter has an exhibition called “Musician Series” which includes all of the musicians living in Long Island City, Queens (myself included). Jesse has asked us to perform some music over the course of the six-day event, so Andrey and I will play a set of free-jazz chestnuts, some open improvisation, and one Iron Maiden tune. If you find yourself out and about late this Saturday night come by, see some art, hear some crazy music. It’s going to be fun.

Thanks to the generosity of the Queens Council on the Arts, individual sponsors, and the Josephine Foundation, we will be hosting our annual Spring Jazz Fest for the third year in a row! Come hear student bands by day and professional, Queens-based jazz bands in the evening, along with master classes and a Louis Armstrong collage workshop at 12:30 p.m. for the little jazz fans.